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8 Easy Steps to A Simple Shabbat Dinner

How can your household begin to keep Shabbat? One way to do it is with a simple Shabbat dinner.

Note: If you are new to Shabbat, make only a few changes, or even one change, at a time. Try things and notice what happens and how you feel. Adjust as necessary. This is a lifetime project. Blessings may be said either in Hebrew or in English. Do what is comfortable for your household.

MAKE IT SPECIAL: “Special” will mean something slightly different for every household. Perhaps you will use a tablecloth, or invite a friend. Whatever you do, make sure it is food that you like and that will not add stress. If cooking is hard for you, have good takeout. Many Jews eat challah, a sweet egg bread, on Shabbat.

YOU WILL NEED: Two candles, wine or juice, bread, yummy food.

SET THE TABLE Put the candles in candlesticks and bread on the table. Cover the bread with a napkin.

SAY GRACE AFTER MEALS: Stay at the table until everyone is finished. Then give thanks for having eaten: Blessed are you, Eternal our God, Who nourishes us all. There is a longer, beautiful blessing which you can learn by googling “Birkat Hamazon” and about which I’ll write in some future post. For now, for a simple Shabbat for beginners, this is enough.

The most important thing is to keep things low-key and pleasant: don’t use this meal as a time to remind anyone of work that needs to be done, or for unpleasant arguments. And keep in mind that since Shabbat comes once a week, it doesn’t have to be “perfect.” If there is something you’d like to be different, try that next week!

Thanks for your comment, Louisa – the lovely thing about Shabbat, for me, is that it is easy to accomplish the basics. Shabbat is like chess: the basics are easy to learn, mastering it as an art is the work of a lifetime. I just want people to be able to BEGIN!